A Chance at Darkness
by Coogzee
Summary: Cadence Garrows is in her last year of highschool and about to graduate, but what happens after she witnesses Falcone's men commit a crime, and is taken by the legendary Batman, to live in the safety of Wayne Manor with none other than Bruce Wayne?
1. Chapter 1

Cadence Garrow was walking down the hall of her school, holding a single book to her chest and peering out into the darkness as she nervously looked around. This was not a place she was supposed to be, and she knew it. After living in the Narrows her whole life, she knew better than most that leaving the safety of your home after darkness was asking for trouble. Just as she was contemplating which exit to use that would take her closest to the safest route home, she heard the sound of a door closing. Quietly she peeked around the corner to see what had caused the noise. With fear starting to grip her she made a run for the door, as she was running she silently spoke to herself. "There is nothing there; I am just letting my fear get the better of me." With that she stopped and went to turn around and further investigate what had caused the sudden noise.

Slowly pacing back up the hallway she heard hushed voices coming from a classroom. "Why are we in a school of all places?!" one voice said angrily, then after a slight pause. "Falcone had better have a good reason for sending us here." Then a new voice sounded. "The principal of this school made a deal with Falcone. He said if boss gave more funding for the school, he would let Falcone store stolen merchandise in the spare lockers. Been a month, and this dude Varley hasn't followed through with his end of the deal. The reason we are here is to torch the place. We just need to wait for the okay from Flass." The other voice responded quickly. "Flass!? He is a cop I don't know why boss trusts him. One day he is going to turn on us." The harsher of the voices replied with. " Flass is a smart guy, he knows better than to turn us in, it's his partner I am worried about, and he knows what Flass is up to. But the reason we need to trust Flass is cause he is going to make sure there are no cops around for when we need to escape."

Cadence let out a gasp that caused the two men to immediately whip their heads around. She did not wait to see if they had seen her standing there, she had already started running. Hearing the door smash open pushed her to run faster. She knew if she could make it out the door, she could hide herself in the darkness of the moonless sky. Skidding around a corner Cadence lost her footing which caused her to go smashing to the floor. Desperately she tried to get up, but failed as she felt a sharp pain in her ankle. Due to Cadence's fall, the men had caught up with her. One of them gave her a lung crushing kick to the chest while the other took out a rope. Roughly he whipped the rope around Cadence's neck and began to choke her. She didn't bother to fight back; she had already resigned herself to the fact that there was no way she could win against these men; all she could do was hope someone would save her. As the one man was choking Cadence, the other began to pour gasoline up and down the hallway. With Cadence nearing unconsciousness, the man stopped choking her and began to kick her in the ribs once again; just to be sure she wouldn't be going anywhere. With that they threw a single match into the gasoline, and began to walk out the door, leaving Cadence for dead.

As they opened the door, instead of stepping out into the darkness, they came face to face with a giant shadow. Startled in their fear, they attempted to run in the opposite direction, only to be stopped by a wall of fire. Quickly they decided that they would rather face fire than the giant shadow that frightened them so much. In the slight second they hesitated, the shadow grabbed both men by their collars, and slammed them headfirst into the lockers, and with a loud bang, both men fell unconscious. Picking up both men he went to throw them outside, knowing that if he left them inside they would burn to death. As the shadow was throwing the men out the door, an almost inaudible 

moaning caught his attention, and he knew there was someone else in the building with him. Looking down the hall past the flames, he saw a girl laying there. Alarmed by her presence, and the fact that he didn't notice her before he went and picked her up. Carrying her outside he looked down her and saw the damage that Falcone's men had done. As he looked her over, her eyes opened slightly, and she let out a low moan. The shadow met her dark grey eyes with the piercing light green of his own. Looking into her eyes reminded him of the rain. They were a deep impenetrable dark grey, the kind of grey that is harsh and unforgiving on its own, but within this dark grey in her eyes were flecks of light grey. He had never seen this color in a person's eyes before, and it intrigued him. As she fell back into unconsciousness, the shadow found himself wishing he could have another look into this girls eyes. He knew there was something there that he needed to find out about. With that knowledge, the shadow made a decision.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- So I got a positive review, which was my goal, considering this is my first fanfic and i have never done this before. I told myself as long as one person was interested in the story i would continue with it, so here is the net chapter! This is it for a few days though as i have to go away to a place where i won't have access to a computer, but i hope you enjoy, and please review if you enjoy!

Bruce POV

I felt the tumbler rocket forward as I roughly pressed my foot down on the pedal. Feeling myself forced back into me seat as I increased the speed, I again looked over at the girl that was strapped in, right next to me. Quickly glancing back at the road, I knew I needed to get her back to Wayne Manor and into the care of Alfred as soon as possible. It was obvious that a few of her injuries needed immediate attention. Accelerating a bit more, I thought to myself, what is it about this girl that I feel the need to protect her? In the entire time I have been leading my double life as Batman, I have not once felt the need to bring someone home with me. Trying to convince myself that it was only because I knew that she could not survive a night out in the cold fury of the storm that was brewing, I knew there was more to it than that. I knew the second that I looked into this girl's eyes that I had to learn more about her.

Cadence POV

My Head hurt like you wouldn't believe and it hurt to breathe. My throat felt as if it was on fire, and my lungs felt as if I had never taken a breath before. Trying to remember what happened, I opened my eyes a bit to see where I was. As soon as I opened my eyes, they connected with that of a masked man. I knew I should be scared, but there was not enough energy left in me to feel even the tiniest bit of fear. Also the eyes that looked down at me, I instantly knew I could trust the owner of the eyes to no longer let any harm come to me. With that, I fell unconscious again.

The next time I woke up, I had the feeling that I was moving, cracking my eyes open, I confirmed that I was in some sort of vehicle. I slightly turned my head and let out a low moan as I discovered it to be sore. The slight bit I did manage to turn my head I was able to see a man. No it was not a man; it was some sort of creature, driving the vehicle. Having heard my moan, the creature looked over at me, and then in a deep, rough animal like voice said, "Do not be afraid, I am here to take you some place safe." Silently I tried to nod, but the pain in my neck would not allow it. "Do not try to move, you have been severely injured, and it would be best to stay still until I have had a chance to check out the damage." Suddenly remembering the stories I had heard about a bat man, I realized that it was him who must be seated beside me. Thinking about the fear that voice had caused many, I could not help feeling a sense of calm wash over me as I heard him speak. To me, the sound of that voice was the sound of my guardian angel that had rescued me when I needed it the most. Before I knew it, the sound of his voice had me drifting off into unconsciousness once again.

I heard hushed voices talking on the other side of a heavy wooden door, and it caused me to jerk in to awareness. Looking around I was in an unfamiliar room. However this room was beautifully decorated and it was obvious that it was extremely well cared for. Having a feeling that I was safe wherever I was, I shrunk back under the covers, and into the warmth of this cozy bed. This was when I heard the heavy wooden door open. Immediately I sat up to see who was coming in. Sitting up in such a fast motion caused a sharp pain in my stomach, so I fell straight back into bed to make the pain go away. "Ah I see that you are finally awake, miss…?" said the older man who walked into the room

"Garrows." I quietly replied, "Cadence Garrows"

"Miss Garrows, glad to see that you are finally awake" The man said with a soft and kind voice

"Excuse me…"

"Alfred, miss."

"Alfred, may I ask how long have I been asleep for?"

"About two days now miss was when our mutual friend brought you here, and you have been asleep ever since."

"Not to seem rude or anything, but where am I?"

"You are at Wayne Manor miss."

"Wayne Manor? As in the mansion of Bruce Wayne?"

"Precisely miss."

"Why was I brought here?"

"Well miss, you were severely injured, and your injuries needed attending to."

"What I mean is, why was I brought here of all places. Why Bruce Wayne's house?"

"It would seem that we have a mutual friend who seemed to think it would be best to bring you here. While you are recovering"

"Oh." "Alfred? May I ask you a question?"

"Of course miss."

"Does Mr. Wayne know I am here?

"He most certainly does." Said a young man who walked in, dressed in hockey pants, and a t-shirt.

I couldn't help but think that this young man was extremely good looking, even though he was about ten years older than me.

"And who are you may I ask?" I shyly replied to him

"Oh sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, I am Bruce Wayne, but you can just call me Bruce." He said with a kind smile.

"Oh I am so sorry Mr. Wayne! I did not recognize you; I have only seen your photograph." I quickly tried to stand up to shake his hand, but had forgotten that I had hurt my ankle, as well as all the other injuries that I had sustained, and went crashing to the floor. I closed my eyes and prepared for the impact to 

come, but instead of feeling myself slam into the cold hard wood floors, I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me and catch me from falling.

"Easy there, you're not quite up to jumping around yet." He smirked at me. Then as an afterthought added, "Not that it would be easy for you to walk around in pajamas that are that big on you anyways."

Quickly I looked down to see that I was in a pair of men's pajama that had BW embroidered into them. Suddenly embarrassed thinking about how one of these men must have changed me, I turned a deep scarlet.

"Don't worry miss; we had a maid change you so as to avoid any embarrassment from you. We just did not think it would be a good idea to keep you in those wet clothes." Alfred said extremely kindly seeming to notice my discomfort.

Trying to cover up my embarrassment, I tried to come up with an excuse.

"Oh no Mr. Alfred, it's just that I never thought I would be wearing a billionaire's pajamas, and sleeping in his house."

"Not only did you get to wear a billionaires pajamas, but you got to sleep in his bed… Twice." Bruce added with a lot of cheek.

"Oh Mr. Wayne, I am so sorry to have imposed on your space like that, now that I am awake I will be out of your room and back to my house." I replied with apology dripping off of my voice. Bruce Wayne was not known for being a very nice man, not that I was afraid of him, but I definitely did not want to get on his bad side.

"No Miss. Garrow, you did not impose at all, I just thought that sleeping in the comfiest bed in the house would speed up your recovery a bit faster. I feel though that we have to tell you that you will not be going back home for a while."

Forgetting my thoughts that the tabloids might be wrong about Bruce, and that he seemed like a nice enough person, I started to get concerned and a bit confused. "Why am I not able to go back home?" I asked

"Well you see miss, the men who attacked you now know that you are alive, because they did not find a body in the school after it burned. They are looking for you so you have to stay here until they along with Carmine Falcone have been put safely behind bars."

"Oh."

Both the men looked at me in confusion due to the lack of my fear and concern, and I found myself laughing at how absurd this whole situation was.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N- Okay so i am back with a new chapter, So in this chapter this is where Bruce finds out how much he enjoys having Cadence around. And i am sorry i did not elaborate on Cadence's stats before, but i wanted this to be reflected from Bruce's POV, and i felt the first chapter needed to be audience POV, and the second needed to be Cadence's POV. But enough of this lets get back to the story!

Bruce POV

I looked in confusion at the girl that I held upright in my arms I wondered why on earth was she laughing. This is when Alfred interrupted with his own confusion.

"Miss…?" He did not even have to ask a full question, we both knew what he was talking about.

"I am so sorry, it's just to me this does not seem like that horrible of a situation. I get to stay in your mansion" she said looking up at me before continuing. " and even with Falcone looking for me, I am not that worried, I mean, your Bruce Wayne, this house must be one of the safest places in the world, so I am pretty confident that as long as I don't leave the grounds, I will be safe. If I knew that getting Falcone after me meant getting to leave the Narrows to live in Bruce Wayne's mansion, believe me I would have done it a long time ago."

"I suppose you are right miss." Alfred said to her rather quietly

"She is definitely right Alfred!" I said chuckling to myself.

"Now that we have all the basics established, let's let our guest get freshened up before she comes down and gets something to eat and drink, I'm sure you must be starving after two days." I said to Alfred and Miss. Garrows.

"Um… I do not have any of my things here though." She said extremely quietly as if she were shy about it.

"Don't worry about it, I took the liberty of getting you some things, not sure what you really wanted though in terms of clothes, so if it's not to your liking just tell me and I can get you anything else you want, and don't feel awkward about it." I said, noticing she was blushing a bit, and looked as though she was about to object. "I'm sure you would be less embarrassed to have me provide the necessities of life rather than well… not to. It's not like money is an issue either so, anything you need, please just tell me."

"Okay, thank you for your hospitality Mr. Wayne. From what I hear you are not fond of guests so I really appreciate you letting me stay here for any amount of time." Noticing the genuine gratitude that seemed to be radiating off of her, I realized that she still thought of me as _Bruce Wayne- Billionaire Play Boy. _That would definitely have to change if she was going to stay here, and feel comfortable about staying here.

"One rule about living here before we leave you to it, none of this Mr. Wayne nonsense, its Bruce." I said giving her a really warm smile.

"Okay Bruce", she said returning my smile. Good, we were getting somewhere.

Alfred and I left her to get showered and changed, hoping she wouldn't fall over again. Alfred went down to the kitchen to prepare us a meal, and I went into the room I had been staying in while Cadence was staying in mine, it was actually attached to my room, so I had access to my closet even though she 

occupied my room. Walking in to grab some decent clothes to change into, I suddenly thought that I hadn't told Cadence where all her clothes would be. I walked into my room and quickly scribbled a note containing directions to her new room, and closet, and then to the kitchen. After having changed myself I walked down into the kitchen to be greeted by the tantalizing smell of Alfred's mushroom linguine. I picked up the glass of health shake he had left on the counter for me and began to chug it down. When I was halfway through my drink, Cadence walked into the kitchen. Looking at her I forgot to swallow and ended up inhaling a lung full of the green smoothie. Spluttering to catch my breath and coughing to get the remainder out of my lungs, Alfred looked at me disapprovingly.

"I told you Master Wayne, if you don't start drinking those more slowly, one of these days the headlines are going to read: Billionaire Playboy Chokes to Death on Health Drink."

"Very funny Alfred" I said weakly tossing the towel that I was wiping my mouth with at his head. I looked back over at Cadence who had paused at the door when I had started to choke. I hadn't realized how pretty she was before. She was about five foot ten and her body was completely proportionate. Her dark brown hair fell in naturally wavy layers to her chest. And her eyes. The thing I had first noticed about her. She was one of those girls who had cat eyes, which I found very alluring. Looking again at the captivating color of her eyes, I realized that my staring was making her uncomfortable. Embarrassed my lack of subtlety at looking at her I instantly dropped my gaze down to my paper.

"Forgive Master Wayne, Miss Garrows, he is not accustomed to having a female in the manor and seems to have forgotten his manors." Alfred said giving me a patronizing look, which if I didn't know any better I would have thought he would have been breaking out a belt later for my lack of manors. I quickly got over my embarrassment after the look Alfred gave me that look.

"You can sit anywhere you want Cadence, I'm sure Alfred should be done with lunch pretty soon. Lucky your first meal here gets to be his mushroom linguine." I said trying to make up for my previous rudeness.

"That sounds fantastic!" she said as her stomach gave a loud growl. Her hands flew to her stomach in obvious attempt to stop the noise. Not wanting to make her feel even more embarrassed, I remained silent as though nothing had happened. Surprisingly she came and sat down right next to me.

"I want to thank you Mr. Wayne" she started but I cut her off

"It's Bruce, Mr. Wayne makes me feel like… how the tabloids portray me, and I don't particularly like that person I read about." She smiled at me

"Okay, I would like to thank you, Bruce for the clothes you have provided me with."

"Everything there to your liking? If not just let me know and we can order in some new things." I said with my brow furrowing in concern that she did not like what I had picked out. I knew how teens could be pretty adamant about what they wore.

"Oh No! everything there is fantastic. I never dreamed I would get to wear clothes this nice." She said with such genuine happiness that it made me smile.

"Well alright then. Glad I made the right choices." Glancing over to see what outfit she had chosen I was pleasantly surprised that she had chosen what was my favorite outfit when I had picked out all her clothing (who knew I would enjoy clothes shopping so much). She wore dark wash skinny jeans that were bunched at the ankles, whit a baddy one side off the shoulder black t-shirt that had a lion on the side in silver stitching, paired with a white tank top underneath. It looked really good on her and I gave myself I mental high five for getting her size exactly right.

"You chose these out?" she asked me in shock.

"yes. Who else would?"

"I don't know, I just never thought you would have enough time or interest to do this."

"Well, I usually only work nights, because I don't like going out during the day due to the paparazzi following me everywhere I go, so I have whole days I need to fill up somehow." I told her.

"And how do you usually fill up your days?" she asked me with curiosity.

"Oh you know, a little of this, a little of that, shopping for my house guest, talking to my butler, watching movies."

"oh yea, what's your Favorite movie?" she asked me, seeming to want to get to know me better.

"Right now, I would have to say 300. The cinematography is quite interesting." I added in slyly.

"Bullshit, you don't care about the cinematography, you just like the fight scenes." She boldly accused me.

"Your right" I said smiling at her. "Also I like to see how fit the men are. It gives me inspiration to get my ass up off the couch and go work out." I laughed

"Oh that's my favorite part of the movie as well, but for different reasons." She informed me with a devilish grin.

"Oh are you sure you are old enough to be making comments like that?" I challenged her.

"I will have you know that I turn 18 next week!" she replied to my cheek.

"Does that mean I need to throw you a party?" I asked her with fake concern

"Yep" she said back expectantly. I was about to reply with another witty comment when Alfred set us each a plate down of steaming pasta. Without hesitation she grabbed her fork and started to eat, obviously starving. With that I grabbed my own fork and started to eat. We ate in silence, the whole time I was thinking about how much of a joy it was to have someone here other than Alfred. Cadence 

was truly a fun person to talk to. I found myself wanting to spend more time with her, after the few short minutes I had already spent with her.


End file.
